Portrait of James Grenville, 1st Lord Glastonbury (4670786)

James Grenville, 1st Baron Glastonbury, PC (6 July 1742 – 26 April 1825) of Butleigh Court, Somerset was a United Kingdom politician, who was a member of both houses of Parliament during his career.

Background

Grenville was the eldest son of

James Grenville James Grenville (12 February 1715 – 14 September 1783) was a British politician. He was born at Wotton House, Buckinghamshire in 1715 into the influential Grenville political family and was one of five brothers who went into politics. He was ...

MP (12 February 1715 – 14 September 1783) and a first cousin of

George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd President ...

. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

. The Grenvilles were the most prominent

aristocrat The aristocracy is historically associated with "hereditary" or "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the upper class of people (aristocrats) with hereditary rank and titles. In some, such as ancient Greece, ancient Ro ...

ic family in the south-eastern English county of

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

in the 18th and early 19th centuries. For much of this time they supplied one of the two parliamentary representatives of

and both of those from the town of

Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...

. The family produced some prominent national political figures, including two Prime Ministers (

George Grenville George Grenville (14 October 1712 – 13 November 1770) was a British Whig statesman who rose to the position of Prime Minister of Great Britain. Grenville was born into an influential political family and first entered Parliament in 1741 as an ...

and

William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, (25 October 175912 January 1834) was a British Pittite Tory politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1806 to 1807, but was a supporter of the Whigs for the duration of ...

). They were also related to

William Pitt the Elder William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, (15 November 170811 May 1778) was a British statesman of the Whig group who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him Chatham or William Pitt the Elder to distinguish ...

and

William Pitt the Younger William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...

Career

Grenville served as Member of Parliament for the

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

borough of

Thirsk Thirsk is a market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England known for its racecourse; quirky yarnbomber displays, and depiction as local author James Herriot's fictional Darrowby. History Archeological fin ...

1766–1768. He sat for his family borough of

1770–1790, from 1774 to 1780 in partnership with his twin brother,

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

. He then represented the county seat of

1790–1797. He succeeded his father in 1783. As a politician he generally followed his family connection up to 1801 and after 1806, but between those years he continued to support

instead of becoming closer to

Charles James Fox Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled ''The Honourable'' from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was the arch-riv ...

as most of his politically active Grenville relatives did. He held junior ministerial office as a

Lord of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second Lord of the ...

March 1782 – March 1783.

William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne William Petty Fitzmaurice, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, (2 May 17377 May 1805; known as the Earl of Shelburne between 1761 and 1784, by which title he is generally known to history), was an Irish-born British Whig statesman who was the first ...

offered to make Grenville

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...

Secretary at War The Secretary at War was a political position in the English and later British government, with some responsibility over the administration and organization of the Army, but not over military policy. The Secretary at War ran the War Office. Afte ...

, but he declined these appointments. He was sworn of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

on 26 December 1783. He was a member of the

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

from 1784 until his death. On 20 October 1797 he was created

Baron Glastonbury Baron Glastonbury is a title that was created twice in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first creation came on 19 March 1719 (as Baroness Glastonbury), as a life peerage and as a subsidiary title for Ehrengard Melusine von der Schulenburg, Duche ...

. Lord Glastonbury never married and the title became extinct on his death in 1825. He left his estate to the bibliophile

Thomas Grenville Thomas Grenville (31 December 1755 – 17 December 1846) was a British politician and bibliophile. Background and education Grenville was the second son of Prime Minister George Grenville and Elizabeth Wyndham, daughter of Sir William Wynd ...

, with a

remainder In mathematics, the remainder is the amount "left over" after performing some computation. In arithmetic, the remainder is the integer "left over" after dividing one integer by another to produce an integer quotient (integer division). In algebr ...

, including Butleigh Court, to a relative, the Reverend George Neville of

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

, later

Dean of Windsor The Dean of Windsor is the spiritual head of the canons of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, England. The dean chairs meetings of the Chapter of Canons as ''primus inter pares''. The post of Dean of Wolverhampton was assimilated to the deane ...

, who then added the name of Grenville to his own.

References

* ''The House of Commons 1754–1790'', by Sir

Lewis Namier Sir Lewis Bernstein Namier (; 27 June 1888 – 19 August 1960) was a British historian of Polish-Jewish background. His best-known works were ''The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III'' (1929), ''England in the Age of the Ameri ...

and John Brooke (HMSO 1964) * ''Political Change and Continuity 1760–1885: A Buckinghamshire Study'', by Richard W. Davis (David & Charles 1972) * ''The Parliaments of England'' by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Glastonbury, James Grenville, 1st Baron 1742 births 1825 deaths People from Buckinghamshire People educated at Eton College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Barons in the Peerage of Great Britain Peers of Great Britain created by George III Grenville, James British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...